Section 34 — Canada Labour Code: Certification in long-shoring and other industries

Where employees are employed in the long-shoring industry, or such other industry in such geographic area as may be designated by regulation of the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Board, the Board may determine that the employees of two or more employers actively engaged in the industry in the geographic area constitute a unit appropriate for collective bargaining and may, subject to this Part, certify a trade union as the bargaining agent for the unit. No recommendation under paragraph (1)(b) shall be made by the Board unless, on inquiry, it is satisfied that the employers actively engaged in an industry in a particular geographic area obtain their employees from a group of employees the members of which are employed from time to time by some or all of those employers. Where the Board, pursuant to subsection (1), certifies a trade union as the bargaining agent for a bargaining unit, the Board shall, by order, require the employers of the employees in the bargaining unit to jointly choose a representative, and to inform the Board of their choice within the time period specified by the Board; and appoint the representative so chosen as the employer representative for those employers. Where the employers fail to comply with an order made under paragraph (3)(a), the Board shall, after affording to the employers a reasonable opportunity to make representations, by order, appoint an employer representative of its own choosing. On application by one or more employers of employees in the bargaining unit, the Board may, if it is satisfied that the employer representative is no longer qualified to act in that capacity, revoke the appointment of the employer representative and appoint a new representative. An employer representative shall be deemed to be an employer for the purposes of this Part and, by virtue of having been appointed under this section, has the power to, and shall, discharge all the duties and responsibilities of an employer under this Part on behalf of all the employers of the employees in the bargaining unit, including the power to enter into a collective agreement on behalf of those employers. The employer representative may require each employer of employees in the bargaining unit to remit its share of the costs that the employer representative has incurred or estimates will be incurred in fulfilling its duties and responsibilities under this Part and under the terms of the collective agreement. In the discharge of the duties and responsibilities of an employer under this Part, an employer representative, or a person acting for such a representative, shall not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith in the representation of any of the employers on whose behalf the representative acts. The Board shall determine any question that arises under this section, including any question relating to the choice or appointment of the employer representative.